Dr. Metz - Great question! If a client was fearful of facing and working on their problem in therapy. Empathy and being genuine would be essential. One means of accomplishing this is to acknowledge that the client has the “power” to guide the session. And using exposure/systematic desensitization (CBT), anxiety psychoeducation (AP), challenging negative thoughts (REBT), and relaxation skills (RS).
The first step, in helping the client understand the process of therapy, would be CBT. By creating a fear hierarchy, identifying the anxiety, then establishing a list of steps leading up to it with a ranking of how anxiety is producing the client to think in this situation (Stewart & Chambless, 2009). This means I could find out if it is
